Lucy

The meals came in through a little flat opening in the bars. It was horizontal and barely wide enough to fit my hand through, but it was big enough to allow a whole tray to come through the bars, complete with a plate of food, a plastic spoon, and a juice box.

 

The meals were bland, but not necessarily bad, and they gave me the strength to deal with what was happening to me: the cage. The quiet. The knowledge that I was the queen bee in enemy territory. It got difficult to tell just how long I’d been here, but I was pretty sure they gave me three meals a day, and if that was true then I'd been here for several days at least.

 

No one would speak to me. That was probably a good thing, given the circumstances. If Blade came to see me, what good would possibly come of it? Would he tell me, “Oh, sure, why don’t you just skip on out of here?” Doubtful. It was much more likely that, if he came to me and spoke more than a handful of words, all of them would be bad.

 

After all, he wasn’t keeping me for shits and giggles. There was a reason behind doing what he did and I knew it had to do with Max. He was trying to lean on him about something. I just didn’t know what.

 

It had to be bad, though. It had to be; otherwise Max would have done it and I would be out of here.

 

Maybe.

 

I’d begun to look at my options, thinking if I could save myself maybe Max wouldn’t have to do something terrible and I wouldn’t end up on Blade’s chopping block.

 

It was a decent plan, but, unfortunately, I didn’t see a single means of getting out. The cage was made with metal bars that weren’t likely to break, especially not given my delicate hands. There had to be a key, of course, but I hadn’t seen it. I’d been unconscious when I arrived, so I never saw anyone unlock or lock the door, though they must have done just that. If the key were lying around somewhere, it wasn’t any place I could see and it was doubtful I'd be able to reach it anyway.

 

Most likely, Blade had it. If I were a bad guy or a supervillain or something, that would be where I would keep the top-secret key.

 

Slumping onto the poor excuse for a bed, I sat back and tried to tell myself everything was fine. Everything would be fine. I was okay.

 

For now.

 

Max would come for me, of that I was sure, but the problem with that was there was no guarantee he could get to me before they killed me. And if he could (because I didn’t think it was about killing me, though maybe that was their endgame), then how would we get out? The only other option was Max doing what Blade wanted.

 

I shuddered at the prospect. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

 

I stared down at the untouched plate of food. It was from the morning, mostly breakfast stuff. At the time I’d been starving, but incapable of eating a bite. Maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe it was the food, or maybe it was just stubbornness. Now, however, I was contemplating gnawing at a piece of toast or something. The juice box was already empty, and I was starting to get thirsty, so I ultimately decided eating anything would probably do nothing to temper my thirst. Still, wasn’t it better than a completely empty stomach?

 

Before I could decide one way or the other, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. More than one person, it sounded like, based on the cadence. It sounded almost like a horse trying to awkwardly tromp down the stairs.

 

The image almost made me laugh. Almost.

 

Then I saw who it was and any desire to laugh died completely. Blade’s face matched his name. He could have been a shoe-in for the Frankenstein monster and I desperately wanted to tell him so. It wouldn’t be kind and I was fairly certain he’d take it out on me if I got clever about it. My own cowardice prevented me from saying a damn thing to the man.

 

The second man came down the stairs behind him and, with a start, I realized who it was.

 

Bills, Max’s lieutenant.

 

I clamped my mouth shut tightly so I wouldn’t gasp in surprise, but it was hard. I’d known somewhere in my gut that Bills was the wrong kind of man, but I would never have imagined this.

 

They came to a stop several feet of the cage, one right next to the other, and stood there facing me. Bills folded his arms across his chest and gave me a broad, menacing grin. He was leering at me. Blade’s expression matched Bills' except...

 

Except there was something a little off with Bills’ expression. A dull color to his eye and a pallor to his skin. Beads of sweat trickled down across his bald head and slid down his face in disgusting rivulets.

 

I couldn’t trust this man, but something was strange here.

 

“It’s almost that time, Cherry, sweetheart,” Bills told me, his tone full of something akin to lust, bordering on giddiness. He was convincing. So convincing.

 

So why, this time, didn't I believe him?

 

“Do you know what’s coming, baby?” he asked, his tone cracking just slightly. I didn't think Blade caught it, but I did. This—these words, me in a cage—it was killing him.

 

I swallowed and shook my head just barely. My response caused both men to grin wider and it was Blade who finished Bills’ words for him. Bills looked strangely relieved by the fact.

 

“We’re gonna use you,” he told me, his grin widening as his eyes dropped down over my body, making me feel as though I was naked before him. He looked maniacal. “That pretty little body of yours. We’re gonna use you just like your pretty little mommy.”

 

I froze. What?

 

I didn't know what his words mean, but they stabbed at me somewhere in my heart. I knew they couldn’t be good and that Blade said them deliberately to torture me, to goad me, to make me feel terrible. It made it all the worse, because there was something in his voice that rang true. He threw the words at me, because there was meaning behind them.

 

I just didn't know what it was.

 

The men stood there watching me a while longer. Blade said a few lewd things about my general appearance—and the things he was going to do to me—then shared whispers with Bills.

 

“You gonna let me have a go at her?” Bills asked Blade almost casually, like they weren’t talking about taking turns. “You must have some idea how long I’ve wanted a piece of that.” Sweat dropped down his neck, where it was absorbed by the collar of his shirt.

 

Blade pretended to think about it, probably more in an effort to scare me further—which was a moot point, since I was terrified already—then finally answered with a small, wicked smile. “Don’t worry, my friend,” he said to Bills, placing a large, scarred hand on his shoulder. “We’ll all get a shot at that pussy.”

 

I felt like throwing up. My body was trembling with fear and disgust. I didn’t want this. But I didn’t see any way out of it. I was quickly running out of time and if Bills were here, working for Blade, my chances of making out had just dropped significantly.

 

I was going to be used. My arms wrapped themselves around my body as I shuddered against the burning bile that tried to come up my throat. Blade must have seen my volatile reaction, because he laughed heartily at it. It was manic, a little crazed, but genuine.

 

He was enjoying my fear, my disgust, and the prospect of… of raping me.

 

I turned away so I didn’t have to look at them anymore and squeezed myself into the farthest corner of the room, desperate to put as much distance between them and me as I could. It didn’t even matter to me anymore if they saw how scared I was. Bravado wouldn’t save me in the end.

 

“Keep an eye on her, would you?” Blade's voice called. I heard his heavy clopping footsteps and for a moment the room was silent other than those steps. They echoed up the stairs and when the door at the top shut, I finally spoke.

 

“How could you?” It came out of me as a whisper, but I was pleased to hear the complete and utter disgust laced there.

 

For a moment, Bills didn’t answer. In fact, he was silent so long that I finally submitted to the urge and turned to look at him. I was surprised to see that he’d come closer and was now standing right beside the bars, his big, beefy hands gripping them tightly. I pressed myself against the wall, worried that he was going to try to get a little preview before the main show. But then I saw his eyes.

 

How pained they were. I was right. Before, I’d sensed that he didn’t want it and now that Blade was gone, it was written plain as day on his features: he hated this.

 

“I’m sorry, Lucy,” he apologized immediately, his words sounding sincere. But I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. If you can lie one way, wouldn’t it be easy to lie the other? And Bills had just put on quite the show.

 

I shook my head. “You’re a monster.”

 

He winced as though I’d just punched him, but nodded as though in agreement. “I know. I… I knew what was going on and I was too… fuck, I was too chickenshit to stop it. But I swear to you, Lucy, I didn’t know about this!”

 

Again, I didn’t know if I could trust those words, but I tried to. Probably it was my own desperate need to believe that things were going to be okay and that I didn’t really have to fear Blade’ threats, because someone was on the inside helping me. “You’re working for them?” I asked, hesitantly and suddenly unsure of exactly what was going on.

 

He shook his head, then glanced towards the door at the top of the stairs, paranoia evident in his expression. He looked back at me and said, “No. I’m…well, I was being blackmailed. Now I’m undercover. Max knows what’s going on and he told me to stay under so I could get to the top.”

 

I stepped away from the wall, just a little bit. “The top? Isn’t Blade the top already?”

 

Bills shook his head again. “No. He’s not. He may run the Slayers, but there’s someone else pulling his strings. If I can get to whoever that is, maybe I can bring this whole fucking thing crumbling down on top of them. Maybe…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to see this kind of thing happen to anyone. Ever.”

 

I bit my lip. I wanted to be angry with him, because I sensed that his admission meant he wouldn’t be getting me out. Not now, anyway. He had to keep his cover and a jail break would mean they knew he was a rat.

 

That didn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence on my part, given the cage I was in and the promise of violence to come.

 

“Is Max coming for me?” I asked in a small, scared voice.

 

Bills offered me a half smile and nodded. “You know he is. Max’d take on the whole damn world if it meant he could keep you safe. You must know.” He said it with a bitter sweetness and I was reminded that Bills had once made a very serious pass at me. It was hard to think how he’d wanted me, and now…Well, a lot was going on now and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it all.

 

“I’ve got to go before someone catches me talking with you,” Bills said. He must have heard something, because his gaze was back at the door.

 

“Wait!” I said, remembering his words and realizing that Bills knew something. “What did you mean before?”

 

He looked horrified. “I didn’t—Lucy, really, I never would have done…You’ve got to believe me.”

 

I shook my head hurriedly and held up my hand to stop him. “No, no. Not that. The other thing. The thing about my mom.”

 

He froze. For a moment, his expression went completely blank, then there was only pain. He pursed his lips tightly together, then shook his head, almost numbly. When he spoke, it was in a small, tired voice that rang with things I didn’t quite understand. “I can’t…It’s not my secret, Lucy. I’m…I’m just sorry.”

 

He pushed back from the bars and started towards the stairs. I rushed forward and slammed against the wall of the cage, reaching for him, suddenly desperate for this information he wouldn’t share. “No, please! Wait! I need to know.”

 

Turning back to look at me, his lips pulled down into a deep frown. For a moment, it looked like he was going to cave and tell me, but then the door at the top of the stairs opened and another pair of boots came down. It wasn’t Blade, thankfully, but another one of the Slayers.

 

“Boss wants you upstairs,” he told Bills.

 

Bills looked back at me briefly and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Then he was gone and I still had no answers.